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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686858">After the Catacombs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MichelleDV/pseuds/MichelleDV'>MichelleDV</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sleepy Hollow (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Ichabbie First Kiss, Missing Scene, so i made it so, this is how i wanted it to go</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:54:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,929</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686858</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MichelleDV/pseuds/MichelleDV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Missing scene from s3e10, Incident at Stone Manor.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ichabod Crane &amp; Abbie Mills, Ichabod Crane/Abbie Mills</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>After the Catacombs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ichabod closed his eyes, attempting to compose himself. He couldn't say all things he'd been saving up for the moment she returned, not with their captive audience, so he made a ridiculous joke.</p>
<p>“Your move to counter my queen's knight four, that was a false gambit. I'd have outfoxed you handily.”<br/>
<br/>
She laughed, her smile nearly breaking his heart into a million slivers, and they turned together towards the door, leaving Jenny and Joe to close up the Archives. They understood his need to be alone with Abbie—he knew they did.<br/>
<br/>
They'd watched his erratic behavior, his long days and longer nights of coffee-fueled research and studying, his slew of attempts and failures, and the absolute, bull-headed stubbornness he’d exhibited as he’d endlessly searched for her. He'd even overheard them discussing him once, wondering how Abbie dealt with him when he got desperate like this. Miss Jenny hadn’t been wrong when she'd said she didn't think Abbie had ever seen him like that.</p>
<p>But now Abbie was here, walking beside him, her arm and hand brushing against him as they made their way to the tunnel entrance, falling into their familiar gait of quick steps for her and slower strides for him, each of them accommodating the other.<br/>
<br/>
He could barely believe they'd made it back here. That <em>she’d</em> made it back after all this time.</p>
<p>Crane opened the door to the tunnel entrance and motioned Abbie inside. She stepped over the threshold, waiting for him in the darkened space, and he sealed them inside, alone.</p>
<p>His heart pounded against his ribs like a jackhammer. He swallowed hard, all the things he’d wanted to say when he’d opened his eyes to find her standing beside him flooding his brain, causing his hands to shake. Completely overwhelmed, he absentmindedly lifted one corner of his mouth and forged ahead down the hallway, headed towards the street.</p>
<p>“That wasn’t my only move, by the way,” Abbie continued their conversation from a moment ago, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “In the best game we played…”</p>
<p>He couldn't concentrate on what she was saying, though her voice flowed over him like a warm salve, soft like silk and smooth as honey, a soothing balm to his frayed nerves and aching heart.<br/>
<br/>
He had no idea what she'd endured—they’d get to that soon enough—but her jovial tone, teasing words, and feminine cadence warmed him like he hadn't felt in weeks.<br/>
<br/>
They reached the stairs, and Abbie motioned him forward as she continued explaining chess moves, a gesture for which he was grateful. He needed another moment to compose himself, to reign in all that had come untethered with her sudden appearance in this world again: his emotions, thoughts, heartbeat, and—he feared—his tongue.<br/>
<br/>
He’d wanted to proclaim from the rooftops how grateful he was that she still breathed. That she'd held on. That they'd found a way for him to get to her. That she meant everything to him and though it'd taken losing her like this to realize it, damned fool that he was, he wanted to sweep her into his arms and hold her and comfort her and promise her the world. And then show her how important she'd become to him.<br/>
<br/>
Instead, with Miss Jenny and Master Joe hanging on his every word, he'd merely taken her hand, needing to touch her, his fingers running along her arm and wrist, their fingers intertwining, reminiscent of their bond and, he hoped, their hearts.<br/>
<br/>
But now they were alone, her voice and presence and footfalls right behind him, and he couldn't help himself.<br/>
<br/>
He descended the last step and unexpectedly whirled around to face her.<br/>
<br/>
She stopped mid-sentence, mouth frozen and eyes wide and trusting and curious.<br/>
<br/>
Abbie. <em>His</em> Abbie. Here with him again.<br/>
<br/>
She stood directly in front of him, the unusually large steps and her much shorter stature putting them nearly at equal heights, an unusual experience for them both.<br/>
<br/>
Abbie's raised her eyebrows questioningly, but no words came from his mouth as he drank in the sight of her. Bright, if tired, eyes, arched brows, satiny smooth skin, full lips. Beauty personified.<br/>
<br/>
How could he begin to tell her what a wreck he'd been while she was gone? What lengths he'd gone to to find her? What she'd come to mean to him? He'd explained it well enough to Agent Foster that night in the car as they chased after that demon. Yet staring at Abbie now, watching the curiosity and amusement at his extended silence play over her beautiful face, his eidetic memory failed him.<br/>
<br/>
He'd held back, swallowed his feelings, pretended he didn't care as much as he knew he'd come to, both out of abject fear and because he wasn't privy to her feelings about him. But somehow those things mattered little at the moment.<br/>
<br/>
She stared up at him with an intensity he felt thrumming through his veins, and the temperature of the air around them changed, charged. He burned from the inside out, pulse quick, mouth dry, head swimming. Before he knew what he was doing, he leaned into her space, holding on to the handrails at her sides, and kissed along her jawline, just below her ear.<br/>
<br/>
It was only when Abbie leaned into him that he realized what he’d done, the intimacy of his affections. Propriety demanded he retreat, give her respectable space, profusely apologize for having acted so rashly, and escort her to a public place to ensure his offense wasn’t repeated.<br/>
<br/>
<em>To Hades with propriety</em>, he thought as Abbie's hands landed softly against his chest, sending shivers across his flesh.<br/>
<br/>
"Abbie," he murmured along her skin, nuzzling into her.<br/>
<br/>
He heard her give a soft sigh, and his heart tripped. He forced himself to ease away from her, though it ached to do so, fearful she expressed regret at his affection and how his impetuous actions might change their partnership. But she looked…awestruck, and he realized she'd sighed from pleasure.<br/>
<br/>
Still holding on to the railing with one hand, he used the other to tuck a wayward ringlet away from her face. His eyes caressed her, from her full, gorgeous hair to wide, innocent eyes, the pink tinting her cheeks, her kissable mouth.<br/>
<br/>
"How I've missed you," he whispered, barely able to get the words out without trembling.<br/>
<br/>
Her face broke, much like it had just moments ago when she realized he'd followed her out of the catacombs, and she nodded in agreement, swallowing hard.<br/>
<br/>
He didn't need to hear the words back; the look on her face spoke more than a library's worth on the subject.<br/>
<br/>
He longed to take this trial and nearly year-long tenure of solitude away from her, but his power was limited to the present and future. And he'd give her anything she needed, everything he had if she desired it.<br/>
<br/>
She reached for him then, her arms sliding around his neck, and she pressed into him, her body flush against him as he slipped his arms around her waist to hold her tight.<br/>
<br/>
"Crane," she whispered, her breath feathering into his hair. “Ichabod,” she corrected herself.<br/>
<br/>
He felt his name from her lips reverberate in his soul, and he closed his eyes, reveling in finally…finally arriving at this moment.<br/>
<br/>
She felt warm and sturdy in his arms, the real flesh and blood Abigail so much more perfect than the illusion that'd haunted his dreams the past month. He marveled at the feel of her: strong and vulnerable, petite and powerful, fierce and feminine.<br/>
<br/>
He never wanted to let her go.<br/>
<br/>
He felt every breath she took, her small frame filling his arms and his heart, and for a moment he thought he might keel over from the sensations flooding him.<br/>
<br/>
"I thought I lost you," she whispered against his skin, her fingers lacing into his hair, sending shivers along his scalp and down his spine.<br/>
<br/>
"You saved me," he returned softly.<br/>
<br/>
"We saved each other."</p>
<p>He nodded slightly against her, barely daring to move for fear he'd wake from this dream and enter another day's harsh reality without her.<br/>
<br/>
Abbie eased away from him slowly but didn't go far. With her arms still draped over his shoulders, she leaned her forehead against his. He held her, his hands splayed across her back, eyes closed, body thrumming with need and anticipation.<br/>
<br/>
Her breaths teased across his lips, making him ache anew, and still he refused to move. He'd held her in his arms before, at times lingering longer than decorum deemed admissible, but this....this was altogether new, and he prayed it never ended.<br/>
<br/>
Her fingers played with the hair at his neck, and he felt unhinged, as though he'd float away if she decided to let go of him.<br/>
<br/>
He sighed dreamily, and Abbie pulled away enough to stare into his eyes. As if he weren't already in danger, he lost himself in her deep brown eyes, looking at him with such tenderness and hope.<br/>
<br/>
Her eyes flicked to his lips for a moment before meeting his gaze again, and his stomach dropped out.<br/>
<br/>
"Ichabod," she whispered, both a statement and a question.<br/>
<br/>
He gave a slight nod of encouragement before he dropped his gaze to her mouth, inching closer to her. She met him halfway, and when his lips touched hers, she let out a little sigh that made his blood boil. Her arms snaked around his neck again, and he slowly, tenderly pulled her close.<br/>
<br/>
Her lips were gentle but firm, and he let her lead this slow, sensual dance, content to enjoy the heat she caused to surge through him after feeling bereft for so long. She'd missed time, but now....now they had all the time in the world, and he intended to make up for it as languidly as she pleased.<br/>
<br/>
And she pleased. They moved slowly, tentatively exploring this new intimacy together. Tender but passionate, teasing and light and feathery-soft as their need built, second by perfectly aching second...<br/>
<br/>
Until they heard a door slam and distant voices.<br/>
<br/>
They eased away to stare at one another.<br/>
<br/>
"Abbie," he sighed on a shaky breath, staring at her like she'd just upended the world.<br/>
<br/>
She looked star-struck, much like he felt, and his heart leapt that he wasn't alone in it.  She swallowed hard before speaking in a near whisper.<br/>
<br/>
"Joe and Jenny, " she realized as the voices moved closer.<br/>
<br/>
Ichabod nodded, trying to shake away some of the fervor from mere seconds ago.<br/>
<br/>
"Come, let's go home."<br/>
<br/>
"Home," she repeated.<br/>
<br/>
He gave her a small smile, moving aside, and she descended the last step to stand beside him as they walked towards the exit.<br/>
<br/>
Abbie's arm slid around his bicep and she leaned against him for a moment, nearly causing him to trip. He needed to get ahold of himself before they reached the car or they'd certainly be in trouble with him behind the wheel.<br/>
<br/>
He peered down at her next to him, a space that'd been empty for far too long, now filled with the woman he loved and filling his heart anew. A full-fledged smile, one that actually reached his eyes, broke over his face, the first in weeks.<br/>
<br/>
Abbie moved away, her hand sliding down his arm until she clasped his hand, interlocking their fingers, and he couldn't help lifting their joined hands to place a kiss on the back of hers.<br/>
<br/>
She looked up at him and smiled, and together they navigated the tunnels, heading home.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed this. I was desperate to see an Ichabbie reunion, and I needed more than what they gave us. Ichabbie deserves it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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